Darcie Black
by Adara's-light
Summary: Darcie Black, a half elven witch, enters the magical world and journeys on adventures with Ron, Hermione and Harry during her first year at Hogwarts. R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Darcie Black looked at her watch. Incomprehensible to muggles, she sussed that the time was just gone midnight. Then she gazed longingly back at her book, "_Hogwarts: a History_", watching the stormy lake brew. She sensed a barn owl fly overhead, and stood up to see, casting down her book as she did so. But she had just missed the owl fly into the thicket, silhouetted against the starry sky. The waning moon gave her little light to read by, but her eyes adjusted accordingly, a tiny silver band around her dilated pupils.

"Darcie? Darcie! Oh where is that cursed child?"

The shout startled Darcie from the tree branch she was lounging on, and she swayed for a moment before falling off altogether. She saw the ground rise up to meet her, as if in slow motion, and swung her legs down to land in a crouching position before her startled aunt. Rising slowly, she readjusted her clothes and gave her aunt a steady stare, giving her time to recover before she replied.

"Sorry I surprised you, Libby. You did surprise me though, that's why I fell out of my tree."

Libby frowned at her, hand firmly on chest, and opened her mouth to speak. But Darcie interrupted.

"Is there anything you want?"

Her aunt glowered at her, and finding the words she wanted, retorted,

"You should be in bed young lady. You're meeting Molly and Arthur Weasley tomorrow, remember? It's not like you to forget."

Darcie rolled her eyes.

"Oh no, really Libby? I'd quite forgotten it's almost the biggest day of my life tomorrow. How kind of you to remind me."

Libby sighed, weary of Darcie's constant irony and sarcasm.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Anyway, don't worry, you'll be rid of me soon. I've packed my trunk, though I might need an extra bag for some of my jewellery - it won't fit. I can put Lily in her cage before we go, and I think that's it."

Libby tried to continue looking aggravated, but gave up the desperate attempt, smiling, bringing Darcie into her arms and hugging her to her chest.

"I will miss you, Darcie, especially if you aren't home at Christmas. How will I cope? Now come on, off to bed."

Darcie smiled, protesting.

"But I can't sleep!"


	2. Chapter 2

Darcie woke up straight away, as usual, sitting up and throwing back her curtains. Instinctively she knew something was wrong. She stared at the fresh blue sky and the small front garden of their cottage, her brain working furiously to work out what was wrong. Suddenly it clicked - the blue sky of course. It was over an hour later than when she normally got up, before the sun with the grey light of pre-dawn.

Again, panic! Why was she not up yet? Finally, her heart slowed as she remembered that she could have a lie in, even though she was going away that day. Realising this, she thought to herself how peculiar that was.

In her usual early - bird spirit, she thought she might as well get up now that she was awake. She threw back her quilt, leaving it crumpled on her bed, and lay her feet on the cold wooden floor. She crept across her room, over the landing and arms under her pure white nightie. She never got cold physically, however it was a habit she had when anxious or excited.

Darcie pushed open the kitchen door, a particularly squeaky one, to find her effort of being quiet had been wasted when she saw Libby laying some waffles on the table. When Libby saw her, she turned the radio down and wished her good mourning.

"I thought I'd let you have a lie in this mourning"

Libby smiled, running her hand through her brown hair,

"You did have an extraordinary late night last night"

"And I put extra effort into being quiet effort into being quiet so I wouldn't wake you. Oh well. Are those for me?" She asked, biting into the waffle without waiting for an answer.

"Why did you try be quiet, greedy guts? The number of times you've incorrectly crept up on me…"

Libby soon gave up her attempt to chat to Darcie. She saw she was immersed in eating, so instead turned up the radio an settled down with a mug of coffee in time for the hall past seven news.

"An important newsflash has just issued. The escaped convict, Sirius Black, a known supporter of He - Who - Should - not - be named, has broken out of the prison of Azkaban. Any sightings or information should be reported to the ministry of magic as soon as possible.

And now back to the main news …"

Libby's fingers loosened their grip on her mug of coffee; Darcie felt her muscles relax, and shot out her hand to catch the released drink. Already Libby had gathered her wits about her, taking the mug off Darcie and removing the spilt coffee with her wand. But Darcie had not moved.

"Why did drop your mug? Was it because they talked about Sirius Black?"

She looked intently at Libby; she didn't normally act like this.

"Uh, yes" replied Libby uneasily, "Well you recall the story of Harry Potter? Yes, of course you do. Anyway, he was their secret keeper, and apparently he handed them over to you - know - who. He blew up a whole street of muggles. I haven't heard his name in a long time, that is all. There's a picture in the paper if you must look, but I'm not to - keen - to discuss the subject."

Darcie, nodding, unfolded the newspaper, and got back to eating her waffles. Libby gazed hungrily at them.

"I wish I could eat like you - you always manage to stay so skinny!" Libby moaned, half enviously.

Darcie could only manage a smile, her mouth filled with waffle. Libby, who had educated her for the past fifteen years, was only fifteen years her senior, and now Darcie was much older, much of their tastes and ideas were similar. But slowly, her eyes turned from silver to yellow, inside to out as she remembered why she was so thin.

"You're not half elf, are you?" she said bitterly. Libby knew how sensitive Darcie was in knowing so little of her family. Quickly she changed the subject.

"Oh, I've forgotten to give you a list of what you'll need, it came from Hogwarts yesterday. Look, her it is - "

Darcie took out the paper and read the list.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT

AND WIZARDRY

Uniform

Third year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain robes (black)

2. One plain black pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils clothes should carry name tags.

Set books

Students should have a copy of the following:

The standard book of spells (grade 3) by Miranda Gehawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical theory by Adalbert Waffling

Intermediate Transfiguration by Emerie Switch

One thousand magical herbs and fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenuis Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces : A guide to self protection by Quentin Trimble

Unfogging the Future by Cassandra Verblatsky

A Study of Ancient Runes by Elanora Dolch

Other equipment

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size z)

1 telescope

1 set of brass scales

Students may also bring an Owl or Cat or Toad.

Students above first year are also allowed their own broomsticks.

"Come now" Libby interrupted Darcie. "You'll have plenty of time to read that late. You need to get changed."

And she herded Darcie upstairs, leaving the strange picture of Sirius Black laughing maniacally on the table.


	3. Chapter 3

"Come on, we'll be late"

Darcie half squealed, half shouted. She looked meaningfully at her aunt, before rushing halfway up the stairs and dragging her down.

"Ok, Ok, I'm coming."

Libby relented, allowing herself to be led out of the front door.

Darcie grasped the handle, and pulled the door to, before hesitating, and flinging the door open, rushing in and hugging the wall.

"Goodbye, dear cottage."

she murmured, letting the huge, solid mass take her weight. Then she spun gracefully around and stepped lightly out into the sunshine.

"I can't believe I'd forgotten to say farewell! To think I was just going to saunter out without a car in the world! Oh."

Darcie stopped dead in her tracks. Her face frozen, her eyes slowly turning green.

"Don't worry." Libby reassured her, her voice half laughing from experience of previous similar incident.

"I sent your luggage down to the Leaky cauldron before you - it should be there already. I trust you've everything in your day sack?"

She indicated the bag on Darcie's back.

"Everything bar the kitchen sink" she replied, and they laughed.

It was only a short walk to the nearest town, from their cottage, and Darcie could catch the tube into London from there by herself.

They arrived at the station with ten minutes to spare, so Libby bought them an ice - pop each; luckily Darcie came to the rescue when Libby mistook the one - pence - piece for a pound coin. Neither of them were used to muggle ways of life, but Darcie had a bit more of an awareness than poor Libby.

It was nearing the end of summer, and they could sit in the warmth of the sun to enjoy their food without it melting.

Darcie bought her ticket, and then it was time to say goodbye. She simply hugged Libby, not wanting to reduce their parting to words. She didn't want to leave her, she didn't know what it would be like. Why was she going on her own?

But she wouldn't chicken out of going, she wouldn't even think of it. Libby kissed her on the cheek, and she turned round and awkwardly stuck her ticket in the thin slot, grabbing it quickly when it reappeared. The doors swung violently open and she hopped through, turning as she did so. Libby was still there, and she leaned over for one more comforting, reassuring hug.

"You've got to go now" Libby reminded her quietly.

Darcie nodded then turned round and trotted down the stairs. Libby was used to this form of farewell. She turned around, walked out of the station, and was gone.

Darcie only had to wait a couple of minutes, giving her time to gather her thoughts, she felt the tube come seemingly before everyone else, the noises reverberating through her feet. She looked up into the horrible, false light of the tube eyes, and stepped forward, ready to get on. The doors slid smoothly open, and she stepped inside.

It wasn't the first time she had travelled on muggle transport. but she was still very cautious. She chose a seat and sat down, and watched as the tube began to move and the muggle world fly past.

All too soon she recognised the sign - a blue ring with a red stripe through it, containing the white letters reading "OXFORD CIRCUS". She picked up her bag and stepped off the tube.

Looking around her there was a mass of people, and she couldn't tell who was getting on or off, or who was waiting for the next tube. So she waited for the people to clear, then went through one of the alleyways. She stared. It was as if she had walked into a mirror. Through another alleyway was another platform, similar to the one she had just left. Unphased by this strange layout, she looked to her right and saw what she was looking for - one of those peculiar moving staircases muggles used so often. She walked onto it, and decided to walk up on the right side.

As she reached the top she immediately saw who she was meeting. Past the ticket barrier were two lanky twins with flaming red hair. This made Darcie smile - she always forgot just how red it was. And it was good to see a familiar face or two.

She let the machine swallow her ticket, and wandered up to the unsuspecting twins.

"Boo"

Darcie put a little emotion into her voice, but she was smiling already.

Fred and George turned around, both grinning broadly, flashing teeth in their extremely freckly faces.

"We were wondering when you were going to get here" said George, as they walked up the stairs.

"Yeah, we're not too keen on being down there for long. It's a bit cramped."

Fred stretched his arms wide, an action that would have been much harder in the tube station.

"Were you there long then?"

Asked Darcie.

"No" replied George, "but we were starting to get some funny looks, as usual."

They emerged on a sunny Oxford street, and took a left.

"Probably because of your, uh, abundance of freckles." Darcie joked, blinking and shielding her eyes.

"Am I hearing correctly?" asked Fred indignantly "Did you say we were freckled? I believe the word, Darcie, is a tan. I notice you're still as pale as ever."

"Hmm." muttered Darcie, distracted. Snapping back to reality, she inquired.

"How was Egypt? Don't tell me you tried to shut Percy in a tomb"

" No, but it's a good idea though. There was this one tomb, that Mum wouldn't Ginny, because there were all these mutant skeletons in there of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra limbs"

George seemed a bit too enthusiastic.

"Lovely" Darcie replied, her expression showing she didn't think that in the slightest.

They stopped outside the leaky Cauldron. Darcie had only been there once before when she was very young, and she barely remembered it. They entered, and Fred asked her.

"Do you want to go upstairs and settle into your room, or do you want to look around a bit? We could get Mum to come and help you."

"Thanks" Darcie replied. "that would be very nice of nice of you. Do you think you could ask her to come up to My room?"

The twins nodded, and disappeared into the courtyard through the bar. Darcie soon found Tom the innkeeper, and the short little man led her to her room were her bags she thanked him and shut the door behind her.

Immediately she let lily out of her cage, Lily was her 5 month old kitten she received for a birthday, and they adored each other. Lily was black with a white bib and socks and a tip on her tail, and had silver eyes. She had a collar with a moonstone pendant on, matching the one Darcie wore around her neck.

She played with Lily for a while, before there was a knock at the door, and Mrs Weasley opened it.

"Hello dear." she said cheerfully. "The twins sent me up. Oh, is that your cat? She's lovely isn't she? Do you want to take you round Diagon Alley? You haven't got your things for Howgarts yet have you? Oh, we'll need to got to Gringotts as well."

Darcie liked Mrs Weasley very much. She had known her since she was very young, and she was always mothering her, in a different way from Libby.

"Yes, I've got my key with me."

Darcie was interrupted by a further knock at the door.

"Oh, that's Ginny. Come in. You don't mind if she comes with us?"

"Oh - no." replied Darcie.

When she last saw Ginny she was a cheery 10 year old; she hadn't see her since then, and didn't know what to expect.

But what she saw couldn't have been imagined. The Weasley family in general were lively and friendly, apart from maybe Percy, but Ginny was a complete opposite.

She was a bit lanky, like her brother Ron, and pale under her freckles, with the usual bright red hair of the Weasleys, but her eyes were shielded and she has a shy, closed look about her.

Darcie wasn't phased by this, but it took her by surprise. She carried on regardless.

"Hi Ginny." she said, trying to keep her voice light and calm.

"You're coming with us aren't you?"

Ginny nodded, smiling. She was obviously unwilling to attempt speaking, but her smile was open and honest. Mrs Weasley smiled at Darcie apologetically and stood up, ushering the both of them out of the room saying.

"Have you got your key Darcie? Right then, let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

Darcie roughly shoved her key into the lock, and swung open the door. Dumping her bags of shopping on the floor, she collapsed into the bed. After lying motionless for a while, she took off her shoes and somehow slipped under the quilt, drifting in and out of sleep until finally dozing off into slumber. She was awoken by frantic desperate laughter. It reminded her of something. Then there was strange muttering. But they sounded random, as if spoken to someone who wasn't there. Then suddenly there was a burst of sounds - high pitched wails, low moans and other peculiar noises Darcie hadn't heard before. She still couldn't open her eyes, but now she felt cold, and it was draughty and damp. And it wasn't just freezing; she felt cold inside, as well.

Her eyes opened for a millisecond , but that was all she needed to take in her surroundings. Then she snapped awake shaking, and sitting up in her bed, her quilt crumpled at the bottom of her bed. She was shocked at what she saw. She couldn't see much for the gloom, but there was light coming from somewhere. There was a heap of clothes on the floor, it might have been a body but she couldn't tell, and there was something else in the room.

To someone else, it might not have been so provoking, in fact she didn't know herself why it effected like that; she was confused.

Undramatically her stomach rumbled loudly, and she remembered she hadn't had any dinner. She had probably missed the Weasleys but it didn't matter.

She fumbled around for her door key, and then stepped outside into the long corridor. The one thing she didn't remember about The Leaky Cauldron was the size and shape. The corridors moved around haphazardly, as if trying to fit round the rooms instead of the rooms round it, and the floor wasn't exactly flat. And the stairs seemed to reach the first levels of the gigots mines, however some of the parlours near the bottom still had first floor views.

Darcie smiled, remembering what fun she had had as a child, as she made her way along the corridor for the nearest staircase. No one was about, but Darcie amused herself by looking at the different shaped and oddly painted doors.

As she made her way down the stairs she became aware of raised voices, but she dismissed them as unimportant. Then as she came into a small landing facing a parlour, she bumped into a boy she instantly recognised by his untidy jet black hair, green eyes and thin lightning shaped scar on his forehead.

"You must be Harry Potter. Are you here with Ron? I've heard you two were friends."

But before he could answer, the two of them moved irrevocably towards the door of the parlour.

" … makes no sense not to tell them." Mr Weasley was saying heartedly. "Darcie and Harry have a right to know. I've tried to tell Fudge, but he insists on treating them like children. They're both thirteen, soon."

"Arthur, the truth would terrify them both." said Mrs Weasley shrilly. "Do you really want Harry and Darcie - it's her first year for goodness sake - to go to school with that hanging over them? They're happy not knowing!"

"I don't want to make them miserable, I want to put them on their guard!" retorted Mr Weasley.

"You know especially what Ron and Harry are like, wandering off by themselves - they've ended up in the Forbidden Forest twice! But Harry mustn't do that this year! And think what sort of impression this must have on Darcie! When I think what could have happened to him that night he ran away from home! If the Knight Bus hadn't picked him up, I'm prepared to bet he would have been dead before the ministry found him."

"But he's not dead, and neither is Darcie, they're both fine, so what's the point - "

"Molly, they say Sirius Black's mad and maybe he is, but he was clever enough to escape from Azkaban, and that's supposed to be impossible. It's been three weeks, and no one's seen hide or hair of him, and I don't care what Fudge keeps telling The Daily Prophet, we're no closer to catching Black than inventing self spelling wands. The only thing we know for sure is what Black's after -"

"But they will be perfectly safe at Hogwarts."

"We thought Azkaban was perfectly safe. If Black can break out of Azkaban, he can break into Hogwarts."

"But no one's really sure that Black's after either Darcie or Harry - "

There was a thud on wood, and Darcie glanced at Harry. She was sure Mr Weasley had banged his fist on the table.

"Molly, how many times do I have to tell you? They didn't report it in the press because Fudge wanted it kept quiet, but Fudge went out to Azkaban the night Black escaped. The guards told Fudge that Black's been talking in his sleep for a while now. Always the same words : They're at Hogwarts… He's at Hogwarts. Black is deranged, Molly, and you know what he going to do to them - he wants Harry dead, and who knows what he wants to do with Darcie - probably something to do with You - Know - Who. If you ask me he thinks using those two will bring You - Know - Who back to power …"

Mr Weasley faded away, not wanting to expand on the uncomfortable subject, and left a silence in his wake. Darcie watched as Harry desperately leaned closer trying to hear more, but the silence in his ears was loud enough.

"Well, Arthur, you must do what you think is right. But you're forgetting Albus Dumbledore. I don't think anything could hurt those two at Hogwarts while Dumbledore's Headmaster. I suppose he knows all about this?"

"Of course he knows. We had to ask him if he minds the Azkaban guards stationing themselves around the entrances to the school grounds. He wasn't happy about it, but he agreed."

"Not happy? Why shouldn't he be happy, if they're to catch Black?"

"Dumbledore isn't fond of Azkaban guards" said Mr Weasley heavily. "Nor am I if it comes to that … but when dealing with a wizard like Black, you sometimes have to join forces with those you'd rather avoid."

"If they save Darcie and Harry - "

" - then I will never say another word against them." said Mr Weasley wearily.

Darcie tugged at Harry's sleeve - they had to go. " It's late, Molly, we'd better go up …"

They heard chairs move, and finally Harry seemed to realise the urgency. They crept up the stairs and went to find their rooms, not before running into the twins.

Fred and George were crouching in the shadows on the landing , heaving with laughter as they listened to Percy dismantling his and Ron's room in search for his badge.

"We've got it." Fred whispered to them. "We've been improving it."

The badge now read Bighead boy. Darcie smiled at them, and waved bye-bye before trotting up to her room and leaving Harry to be quizzed by Fred and George.

She pushed the door quietly open as if someone was in there and shut it behind her, slowly sliding down and sitting on the floor.

Darcie didn't know what to think. It was entirely unexpected. As she listened to the muffled voices talking next door, she remembered Mrs Weasley mentioning, rather embarrassedly, that they were getting a couple of ministry cars to the station tomorrow. She would like to talk to Harry as well. She would like to talk to Harry as well. She didn't know what his opinion was, but this was serious stuff. She would talk to him tomorrow. Right now, all Darcie wanted to do was sleep.


End file.
